Fliers Ease Carbon Guilt Via Donations

Green flying schemes salve consciences, not environment

(NEWSER) - Carbon offsets are becoming big business, but many emissions experts say green travel is too good to be true. Responsible Travel was one of the first travel firms to offer customers the chance to pay extra money to help offset emissions caused by their air miles. But it has now canceled the program, saying that while it may have eased passengers' consciences, it did little to reduce actual emissions and likely just encouraged people to fly more. More»

None in North America makes top 10

(NEWSER) - Incheon International airport in Seoul, South Korea, is the world's best, according to a British survey that took into account passengers' experiences with check-in, departures, transfers, and arrivals. Two other Asian airports, in Hong Kong and Singapore, finished second and third, the BBC reports. More»

(NEWSER) - The California government is preparing to enter into the "forest bank" business in a bid to save woodlands and battle carbon pollution and climate change, reports the Los Angeles Times. The state is expected to roll out a California "cabon market" that may be expanded elsewhere in the West if it works. The program will allow forest owners to sell "carbon credits" saved when they don't log their land. The credits will help offset carbon pollution in upcoming development. More»

City switches its entire diesel fleet to soy-based biofuel

(NEWSER) - San Francisco may have the biggest green fleet in America now that all 1,500 diesel vehicles—including ambulances, fire engines, buses and street sweepers—run on B20, a combination of soy-based and diesel fuels. The transformation is part of the city's plan to reduce toxic emissions to 20% below 1990 levels in the next four years, the New York Times reports. More»

Trading on eco-guilt, firms are selling worthless carbon credits

(NEWSER) - Carbon offsets—the credits gas-guzzling consumers buy to cancel out their carbon production—may do little or nothing more than assuage consciences, a Financial Times investigation concludes. Some companies sell worthless credits; others use them to finance environmental projects they had planned anyway. And consumers have no means to know when they're getting scammed. More»